The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, who is accused of crimes against humanity and of violating the laws and customs of war, is the first serving politician to be indicted by the ICTY since the ex-Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic. A former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Haradinaj was elected by parliament on 3 December to serve in the UN-administered province. On 8 March, he resigned, preferring to face the UN court "as a common citizen".

The long-running diplomatic battle over Kosovo's future has had a contentious parallel in a courtroom battle over Kosovo's bloody past at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). A judgment in the trial of the former Prime Minister of Kosovo and former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander Ramush Haradinaj is expected soon in The Hague. It may bring new lessons on the relationship between international tribunals and international organizations that would appear to be their natural allies.

With Kosovo on the brink of declaring its independence from Serbia, the case against its resistance hero former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj came to an end on January 23 before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

When he first appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on March 9, 2005, Ramush Haradinaj was Prime Minister of Kosovo. A former nightclub bouncer, he became leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the conflict with Serbia in 1998. His subordinate Idriz Balaj was commander of the KLA "Black Eagles", a "rapid intervention special unit". And his uncle, Lahi Brahimaj, was in charge of the KLA's finances. But for the prosecution, the trial of these three men, which started in The Hague on March 5, 2007, is not about a resistance movement breaching the laws of war, but about the cruel abuse of power.